Tutor/Supervisor; Universidad.Departamento

Fecha de publicación

URI

Editor

Universitat Jaume I

Resumen

Individual differences in music perception skills and in levels of pleasure induced by music can
be easily found in general population. The present study aims at examining whether music
perception skills can influence ... [+]

Individual differences in music perception skills and in levels of pleasure induced by music can
be easily found in general population. The present study aims at examining whether music
perception skills can influence the ability to experience positive emotional responses (i.e.,
pleasure) to music. We also explored whether these differences are related to differences in gray
matter volume in auditory and reward areas. A sample of 125 participants completed the
Spanish version of Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ) and two online auditory,
music perception tests; Jake Mandell Tone Deaf Test (JMTDT) of pitch discrimination and a
simplified version of Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) which is divided into
three subtests: Scale (pitch discrimination), Off-beat (detect a delay) and Out-of-key (identify
incongruent notes). In addition, voxel-based morphometry was measured in 58 of these
participants. Results showed that success rates in JMTDT were positively correlated to BMRQ
scores. Moreover, higher pitch discrimination was related to greater volume of gray matter in
the left superior temporal gyrus (LSTG), and levels of music reward, measured with the BMRQ,
were negatively related to gray matter volume of the bilateral caudate and nucleus accumbens.
These results suggest that pitch discrimination skills may influence individual sensitivity to the
pleasurable aspects of music listening. On the other hand, using a voxel-based morphometry
approached, this study provides evidence about a relationship between pitch discrimination
skills and the volume of different brain areas. [-]